Zn 2+ plays essential roles in biology, and cells have adopted exquisite mechanisms for regulating steady-state Zn 2+ levels. Although much is known about total Zn 2+ in cells, very little is known about its subcellular distribution. Yet defining the location of Zn 2+ and how it changes with signaling events is essential for elucidating how cells regulate this essential ion. Here we create fluorescent sensors genetically targeted to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and Golgi to monitor steady-state Zn 2+ levels as well as flux of Zn 2+ into and out of these organelles. These studies reveal that ER and Golgi contain a concentration of free Zn 2+ that is 100 times lower than the cytosol. Both organelles take up Zn 2+ when cytosolic levels are elevated, suggesting that the ER and Golgi can sequester elevated cytosolic Zn 2+ and thus have the potential to play a role in influencing Zn 2+ toxicity. ER Zn 2+ homeostasis is perturbed by small molecule antagonists of Ca 2+ homeostasis and ER Zn 2+ is released upon elevation of cytosolic Ca 2+ pointing to potential exchange of these two ions across the ER. This study provides direct evidence that Ca 2+ signaling can influence Zn 2+ homeostasis and vice versa, that Zn 2+ dynamics may modulate Ca 2+ signaling.

Transition metals are essential enzyme cofactors that are required for a wide range of cellular processes. Paradoxically, whereas metal ions are essential for numerous cellular processes, they are also toxic. Therefore cells must tightly regulate metal accumulation, transport, distribution, and export. Improved tools to interrogate metal ion availability and spatial distribution within living cells would greatly advance our understanding of cellular metal homeostasis. In this work, we present genetically encoded sensors for Zn 2؉ based on the principle of fluorescence resonance energy transfer. We also develop methodology to calibrate the probes within the cellular environment. To identify both sources of and sinks for Zn 2؉ , these sensors are genetically targeted to specific locations within the cell, including cytosol, plasma membrane, and mitochondria. Localized probes reveal that mitochondria contain an elevated pool of Zn 2؉ under resting conditions that can be released into the cytosol upon glutamate stimulation of hippocampal neurons. We also observed that Zn 2؉ is taken up into mitochondria following glutamate/Zn 2؉ treatment and that there is heterogeneity in both the magnitude and kinetics of the response. Our results suggest that mitochondria serve as a source of and a sink for Zn 2؉ signals under different cellular conditions.Although mammalian cells are known to concentrate transition metals, it is now well established that under resting conditions, "free" (e.g. unbound) metals are maintained at extremely low levels. Estimates of the total Zn 2ϩ concentration in mammalian cells typically range from 100 to 500 M (1); yet free Zn 2ϩ concentrations are tightly buffered by proteins such as metallothionein to maintain cytosolic Zn 2ϩ concentrations in the picomolar to nanomolar range (2-5). However, there is emerging evidence that this static picture is dramatically altered by different cellular conditions, such as redox perturbations caused by oxidative stress (6, 7) and cellular signals such as nitric oxide (8 as mitochondrial function (7, 9, 10). Elucidation of the sources and dynamics of these Zn 2ϩ signals would greatly advance our understanding of the interplay between metal regulation and cellular function.There has been a huge effort in the past few years to develop sensitive and selective fluorescent probes to monitor Zn 2ϩ in biological systems. The majority of this work has focused on the generation of small molecule fluorescent indicators (reviewed by Que et al. (11)). Yet there are also examples of sensors based partially on Zn 2ϩ -binding proteins, such as carbonic anhydrase (12) and metallothionein (13), and peptide scaffolds (14). Although many of these sensors have begun to provide insight into Zn 2ϩ concentrations within cells, one limitation is that it is challenging to explicitly target them to subdomains within the cell. Localized probes are necessary to generate a complete picture of cellular Zn 2ϩ homeostasis in mammalian cells. For this reason, sensors that are genetically encode...

SUMMARY Potentiation of synaptic strength relies on postsynaptic Ca2+ signals, modification of dendritic spine structure and changes in gene expression. One Ca2+ signaling pathway supporting these processes routes through L-type Ca2+ channels (LTCC), whose activity is subject to tuning by multiple mechanisms. Here we show in hippocampal neurons that LTCC inhibition by the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) Ca2+ sensor, stromal interaction molecule 1 (STIM1), is engaged by the neurotransmitter glutamate, resulting in regulation of spine ER structure and nuclear signaling by the NFATc3 transcription factor. In this mechanism, depolarization by glutamate activates LTCC Ca2+ influx, releases Ca2+ from the ER and consequently drives STIM1 aggregation and an inhibitory interaction with LTCCs that increases spine ER content but decreases NFATc3 nuclear translocation. These findings of negative feedback control of LTCC signaling by STIM1 reveal interplay between Ca2+ influx and release from stores that controls both postsynaptic structural plasticity and downstream nuclear signaling.

Excitation-driven entry of Ca2+ through L-type voltage-gated Ca2+ channels controls gene expression in neurons and a variety of fundamental activities in other kinds of excitable cells. The probability of opening of CaV1.2 L-type channels is subject to pronounced enhancement by cAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA), which is scaffolded to CaV1.2 channels by A-kinase anchoring proteins (AKAPs). CaV1.2 channels also undergo negative autoregulation via Ca2+-dependent inactivation (CDI), which strongly limits Ca2+ entry. An abundance of evidence indicates that CDI relies upon binding of Ca2+/calmodulin (CaM) to an IQ motif in the carboxy tail of CaV1.2 L-type channels, a molecular mechanism seemingly unrelated to phosphorylation-mediated channel enhancement. But our work reveals, in cultured hippocampal neurons and a heterologous expression system, that the Ca2+/CaM-activated phosphatase calcineurin (CaN) is scaffolded to CaV1.2 channels by the neuronal anchoring protein AKAP79/150 and that over-expression of an AKAP79/150 mutant incapable of binding CaN (ΔPIX) impedes CDI. Interventions that suppress CaN activity—mutation in its catalytic site, antagonism with cyclosporine A or FK506, or intracellular perfusion with a peptide mimicking the sequence of the phosphatase’s autoinhibitory domain—interfere with normal CDI. In cultured hippocampal neurons from a ΔPIX knock-in mouse, CDI is absent. Results of experiments with the adenylyl cyclase stimulator forskolin and with the PKA inhibitor PKI suggest that Ca2+/CaM-activated CaN promotes CDI by reversing channel enhancement effectuated by kinases such as PKA. Hence our investigation of AKAP79/150-anchored CaN reconciles the CaM-based model of CDI with an earlier, seemingly contradictory model based on dephosphorylation signaling.

SUMMARY Long-term information storage in the brain requires continual modification of the neuronal transcriptome. Synaptic inputs located hundreds of micrometers from the nucleus can regulate gene transcription, requiring high-fidelity, long-range signaling from synapses in dendrites to the nucleus in the cell soma. Here, we describe a synapse-to-nucleus signaling mechanism for the activity-dependent transcription factor NFAT. NMDA receptors activated on distal dendrites were found to initiate L-type Ca 2+ channel (LTCC) spikes that quickly propagated the length of the dendrite to the soma. Surprisingly, LTCC propagation did not require voltage-gated Na + channels or back-propagating action potentials. NFAT nuclear recruitment and transcriptional activation only occurred when LTCC spikes invaded the somatic compartment, and the degree of NFAT activation correlated with the number of somatic LTCC Ca 2+ spikes. Together, these data support a model for synapse to nucleus communication where NFAT integrates somatic LTCC Ca 2+ spikes to alter transcription during periods of heightened neuronal activity.

SUMMARY Within neurons, Ca2+-dependent inactivation (CDI) of voltage-gated L-type Ca2+ channels shapes cytoplasmic Ca2+ signals. CDI is initiated by Ca2+ binding to channel-associated calmodulin and subsequent Ca2+/calmodulin activation of the Ca2+-dependent phosphatase, calcineurin (CaN), which is targeted to L channels by by the A-kinase anchoring protein, AKAP79/150. Here we report that CDI of neuronal L channels was abolished by inhibition of PKA activity or PKA anchoring to AKAP79/150, and that CDI was also suppressed by stimulation of PKA activity. Although CDI was reduced by positive or negative manipulation of PKA, interference with PKA anchoring or activity lowered Ca2+ current density whereas stimulation of PKA activity elevated it. In contrast, inhibition of CaN reduced CDI but had no effect on current density. These results suggest a model wherein PKA-dependent phosphorylation enhances neuronal L current, thereby priming channels to undergo CDI, and Ca2+/calmodulin-activated CaN actuates CDI by reversing PKA-mediated enhancement of channel activity.

In neurons, regulation of activity-dependent transcription by the nuclear factor of activated T-cells (NFAT) depends upon Ca2+ influx through voltage-gated L-type calcium channels (LTCC) and NFAT translocation to the nucleus following its dephosphorylation by the Ca2+-dependent phosphatase calcineurin (CaN). CaN is recruited to the channel by A-kinase anchoring protein (AKAP) 79/150, which binds to the LTCC C-terminus via a modified leucine-zipper (LZ) interaction. Here we sought to gain new insights into how LTCCs and signaling to NFAT are regulated by this LZ interaction. RNA interference–mediated knockdown of endogenous AKAP150 and replacement with human AKAP79 lacking its C-terminal LZ domain resulted in loss of depolarization-stimulated NFAT signaling in rat hippocampal neurons. However, the LZ mutation had little impact on the AKAP–LTCC interaction or LTCC function, as measured by Förster resonance energy transfer, Ca2+ imaging, and electrophysiological recordings. AKAP79 and NFAT coimmunoprecipitated when coexpressed in heterologous cells, and the LZ mutation disrupted this association. Critically, measurements of NFAT mobility in neurons employing fluorescence recovery after photobleaching and fluorescence correlation spectroscopy provided further evidence for an AKAP79 LZ interaction with NFAT. These findings suggest that the AKAP79/150 LZ motif functions to recruit NFAT to the LTCC signaling complex to promote its activation by AKAP-anchored calcineurin.

Stac protein (named for its SH3- and cysteine-rich domains) was first identified in brain 20 years ago and is currently known to have three isoforms. Stac2, Stac1, and Stac3 transcripts are found at high, modest, and very low levels, respectively, in the cerebellum and forebrain, but their neuronal functions have been little investigated. Here, we tested the effects of Stac proteins on neuronal, high-voltage-activated Ca channels. Overexpression of the three Stac isoforms eliminated Ca-dependent inactivation (CDI) of l-type current in rat neonatal hippocampal neurons (sex unknown), but not CDI of non-l-type current. Using heterologous expression in tsA201 cells (together with β and α-δ auxiliary subunits), we found that CDI for Ca1.2 and Ca1.3 (the predominant, neuronal l-type Ca channels) was suppressed by all three Stac isoforms, whereas CDI for the P/Q channel, Ca2.1, was not. For Ca1.2, the inhibition of CDI by the Stac proteins appeared to involve their direct interaction with the channel's C terminus. Within the Stac proteins, a weakly conserved segment containing ∼100 residues and linking the structurally conserved PKC C1 and SH3_1 domains was sufficient to fully suppress CDI. The presence of CDI for l-type current in control neonatal neurons raised the possibility that endogenous Stac levels are low in these neurons and Western blotting indicated that the expression of Stac2 was substantially increased in adult forebrain and cerebellum compared with neonate. Together, our results indicate that one likely function of neuronal Stac proteins is to tune Ca entry via neuronal l-type channels. Stac protein, first identified 20 years ago in brain, has recently been found to be essential for proper trafficking and function of the skeletal muscle l-type Ca2+ channel and is the site of mutations causing a severe, inherited human myopathy. In neurons, however, functions for Stac protein have remained unexplored. Here, we report that one likely function of neuronal Stac proteins is tuning Ca2+ entry via l-type, but not that via non-l-type, Ca2+ channels. Moreover, there is a large postnatal increase in protein levels of the major neuronal isoform (Stac2) in forebrain and cerebellum, which could provide developmental regulation of l-type channel Ca2+ signaling in these brain regions.